Up and Up
by wirenoose
Summary: Kuroo's expecting Kenma to grab hold of his shirt, like usual. So it comes as a bit of a surprise when Kenma's fingers twine in his hair instead. Gently, Kenma tugs him closer until their foreheads touch, and he exhales shakily when they do. (Companion to Colors and Gauging the Days)


Quick vent/stress piece to get me back into the writing mood

* * *

It'll all be fine.

Maybe.

He doesn't exactly know.

Kenma's been under the covers for the past fifteen minutes, shaking slightly, but Kuroo can't touch him. So Kuroo hums, tapping rhythmically against the bed frame as he does so. It's not Kenma's favorite song, or even Kuroo's, it's just some dumb tune that Lev was singing at practice earlier. But it works well enough, so Kuroo has been humming it on a loop.

The day started off between green and yellow. He couldn't touch Kenma, but the younger boy was okay with talking, and he held onto Kuroo's sleeve, just above his wrist. The color dipped directly to yellow halfway through practice. Kenma's tolerance for stimulus went out the window but he forced it aside until it was time to go home. He showered, got dressed, and got his things together without a word passing his lips, and walked behind Kuroo, fingers curled around the fabric of his jacket.

They'd gone to Kenma's afterwards, to get started on homework. It seemed like a delayed reaction to the day's input, Kenma suddenly seized up and started crying. Kuroo had cleared the bed of study materials and gotten the covers situated over Kenma's shaking form. Once Kenma was curled up and hidden away beneath the comforter and blanket, Kuroo began his humming.

Eventually, Kenma stops shaking, he worms one of his hands out of the blanket and blindly reaches for Kuroo's shirt. He rubs the hem of it through his fingers, and Kuroo shifts closer just enough that Kenma can hold onto it more securely.

A half hour passes before Kenma emerges.

He doesn't say anything, but he gives Kuroo a small smile, and that's response enough.

"Of course. You okay for me to get up? I'm gonna get a wet rag for your face."

Kenma nods and lets go of his shirt. Kuroo makes his trip quick and moves to kneel beside Kenma on the bed.

"Do you want to do it?" He holds the rag out so Kenma can take it without touching him. It's the correct option it seems, because Kenma takes it by the edge and presses the cloth to his face.

It's quiet for a few minutes, save for Kenma's occasional sniffling, and Kuroo resumes his tapping on the headboard.

"Better?"

Kenma nods, dropping the cloth to the side before reaching out.

Kuroo's expecting Kenma to grab hold of his shirt, like usual. So it comes as a bit of a surprise when Kenma's fingers twine in his hair instead. Gently, Kenma tugs him closer until their foreheads touch, and he exhales shakily when they do.

"Thank you," he says.

Kenma's words are choked, wrestling past his teeth. His eyes are squeezed shut and Kuroo can feel his hands shaking.

"Anything for you," Kuroo whispers back.

At this point, his hands have long since stopped their jerk reactions to hold Kenma. He's mastered the art of patience, holding perfectly still so he doesn't accidentally touch Kenma when the younger is having such a day.

Today is a day of surprises however.

One of Kenma's hands takes his, the other slips down to the back of his neck, and their foreheads stay together.

"Kenma?"

"I can handle it," Kenma says softly, flexing the grip he has on Kuroo's hand.

Kuroo smiles, feeling a warmth spread through his chest.

Kenma's been making efforts left and right as of late, and Kuroo has a sneaking suspicion that it has something to do with graduation rapidly approaching. But he's glad for it either way. Kenma hasn't had a full fledged attack in a few weeks now, he even managed to get the headphones on by himself the last time one occurred.

After a few minutes, Kenma pulls back, breathing deeply through his nose, eyes closed.

"Better now?"

Kenma nods and opens his eyes. Belatedly, he loses his grip on Kuroo's hand, and removes his hand from Kuroo's neck. He sniffles once, then scoots back, making room for Kuroo on the bed.

Once they're settled, Kenma picks a single blanket from the tangled mess that was covering him earlier, and lays it out over Kuroo. It only covers half of his torso but that's all Kenma needs. When he lays down, he grabs Kuroo's hand, the only skin to skin contact to be found at the moment, and simply holds it.

* * *

So, I guess the Colors series was supposed to be done but I wrote this and it fit in so there's that. I know it's short but that's just how it is I guess, hope you liked it!


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